One of the big signings of the summer for Everton as Marcel Brands and Marco Silva got their feet under their desks, was Colombian international and former Barcelona centre-half Yerry Mina.
The 24-year-old came in for a reported £27.2million and the transfer was far from straightforward as it rumbled on for a bit, with the player himself seemingly torn between fighting for a spot at the Nou Camp or upping sticks and starting afresh for game time.
With the deal finally done, injury ruled him out for most of the 2018/19 campaign so far, but he now has a substitute showing and his full starting debut under his belt as we are now in the November international break, and I think it’s fair to say fans are impressed with the little they’ve seen from him so far.
In a recent interview with the Echo discussing how he was settling into life at Goodison Park, he revealed an unexpected motivation when it came to making the switch.
The full interview is a great read if you haven’t already, so click the link above.
With a few Colombians being tied to the Premier League and the English game, naturally Mina leant on them for their thoughts across of a variety of topics, but the standout player he namechecked for me was former Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho, and he was glowing in his praise for the club and the city.
“When the talk came around that I might be coming to Everton, I had got on well with Coutinho in my time at Barcelona and so I got on the phone to him and he was telling me all about the city. He told me to relax and that I would be fine. I am lucky enough to do a job I love doing but certainly Coutinho gave me advice, he knew all I wanted to do was play football and told me that Everton were a good club and that I wouldn’t go wrong by coming here.”
Fans get wrapped up in rivalry as you’d expect, but fans must have made an impression on Coutinho in our dealings with him as there are obviously no hard feelings.